Danger…

Oh hell, she was in dangerous waters now. The kind that could get her a massive heartache.

“I wanted the chance to get to know you. Couldn’t cancel the tour.” He shrugged, looking unrepentant.

“So you…kidnapped me?” she asked.

“Persuaded.”

“Ambushed,” she corrected.

His gaze lowered to her bare breasts. “You don’t look too unhappy for a captive.”

“I was pretty pissed off a little bit ago,” she reminded him. “And great sex doesn’t trump that issue.”

His expression became guarded. There was a hint of stubble on his face, giving him a less-than-civilized look. It made him seem more male, if such a thing were possible. One thing it definitely did was blur the line between what she thought she wanted from relationships and what was making her blood boil. He was pushing her out of her comfort zones, and she’d be a liar if she didn’t admit she liked it.

“It did,” he said in a low whisper.

The intensity in his tone touched something deep inside her.

“Did…what?”

“Hurt. Seeing you on the back of that dude’s bike…the sight…tore something,” he offered at last, his jaw tight with the admission.

At least she wasn’t alone.

That thought sent a tingle of guilt through her. “Conan was just taking advantage of the opening you gave him to dick with you. He’s the sort who thrives on that kind of buzz.”

“Where were you going with him?”

His gaze had slipped down to her breasts. Hunger softened his features as he reached out and cupped one. She still had on her thin chemise top, and she really loathed it just then, because it left her wide-open. His fingers sent a thrill through her, her skin ultra-aware of the connection. Her heart was accelerating.

“Where?”

“Ummm…” She tried to keep her brain from disengaging. “Just dinner. He’s a client and noticed I was in the area. He called and asked me to share supper with him.”

His expression tightened again. “And you just agreed to take off with him?”

She sat up, removing his hand from her breast so she could think.

“I wasn’t going to wait around here when Cid said you weren’t coming for a fitting. It felt like…moping. And I didn’t like knowing you were avoiding me just because I didn’t have sex with you on the first date. You shouldn’t have been pissed because I wanted to stick to my standards.”

“I wasn’t pissed.” He sat up. She felt a charge in the air between them; her belly tightened.

“Yes you were.”

“Only at myself.” He folded his legs back, leaning toward her.

Her mouth went dry. He looked like he was getting ready to lunge at her. But he gripped the bedding, his knuckles turning white.

“Because I shouldn’t have ripped into you about my own insecurities regarding people seeing me as a meal ticket.” His eyes narrowed. “As for ditching the fitting, guilty as charged. But I was a little afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth off yours and you’d jab me with a pin.”

She snorted at the image. “Might have used my scissors.”

His gaze settled on her mouth. “I love the way you taste. It’s annoying how much I think about it.”

“Gee. Thanks.” Her words might have been flippant, but her tone was husky.

Damn.

She just couldn’t help it. There was something about the way he was looking at her—his jaw tight with frustration over the way she affected him—that set her blood on fire. It was the sort of thing warm, fuzzy words could never convey.

It was raw.

Savage.

And it curled her toes.

She rolled over and stood up with some notion of escaping the potent storm of stimulation she was stuck in, but her damned knees wobbled. The bed moved, and a second later Syon closed his arms around her and pulled her back onto the foot of the mattress.

“Syon—”

“Shhhh… I didn’t mean to freak you out,” he said.

“I didn’t say—”

He covered her lips with his hand, sealing her retort inside her mouth.

“It knocks me for a loop too, the intensity between us. So do me a favor and don’t deny it. I don’t need to feel like a wimp,” he said, trying to placate her.

She sighed. “Like that could ever happen.”

He nuzzled against her neck for a moment, his breath warm and setting off a swarm of tremors that raced down her skin. “I’m getting the feeling neither of us has any idea how to deal with the way we react to each other.”

She swallowed but couldn’t quite get the lump out of her throat. He was dead on the nail head, and it made her feel like she was standing on the edge of a cliff.

For a moment, he held her. She wiggled, because there was something about his embrace that was just so damned…tender.

She was pretty sure she couldn’t deal with tender from him. He’d already melted his way through her common sense, her reservations, and she didn’t need him blowing a hole straight into her heart.

“Conan’s okay. He told the cops we were rehearsing for a video.”

He nuzzled against her neck, licking her skin and setting off a ripple of sensation.

“Taz is an asshole for handcuffing me to the bed.”

Syon shifted and pulled her top off. He chucked it across the room, but the moment he released it, the thin fabric fluttered like a butterfly on its way to the floor.

“Taz is just calling what he sees.” He was wrapped around her again, cupping her breasts and teasing her nipples with his thumbs. “Not his fault we’re both uncomfortable with the charge between us.”

Her body was starting to pulse again, her clit aching.

“I can’t do that again. At least, not right now.”

He smoothed his hands down her arms. “Got to work up to it this time…”

His voice was a dark whisper. He placed her hands on the foot rail of the bed and grasped her hips, raising them so he could get behind her.

“Seriously, Syon. I can’t take that intensity again…not just yet.”

“Trust me, baby…you can, with the right coaxing.” He held her hips and teased the opening of her body with the tip of his cock. “I’m a lot better at sex than not being a dick.”

She scoffed at him.

He chuckled, flattening one hand on her belly. “You’re so damned wet.”

She was.

And hungry for more.

“Ready for me,” he rasped against her ear. The head of his cock slid through her folds, slipping easily through the wet flesh.

A moan got past her lips before she even realized it was coming.

“Very ready,” he told her in a tone that was edged with dominance. He thrust into her from behind. “I’ve done my homework, baby…”

He settled deeply inside her, letting her adjust to having him there.

“All the little facts about sex…”

He pulled loose and thrust forward again, his pace smooth and slow. He massaged her belly, working his fingers closer and closer to her throbbing clit. Driving her wild with anticipation.

“Read all the studies on what women say they want…”

He teased her slit, slipping into the wet folds on his way to her clitoris.

“You make me sound like a test subject.”

He caught her earlobe between his lips. She shuddered, lifting her bottom for his next thrust, astounded by just how good it felt. He was stroking all around her clit with his fingers, without actually touching it. Need was building up inside her again, the pinching ache leaving her as he slowly rode her from behind.

“I don’t want to just fuck you.”

His fingertip was maddeningly close to her clit. She curled forward, trying to get it on top of the throbbing mass of nerve endings. He kept her in place by cupping her mons.

“It worked for me,” she said, breathless again.

“I want more than that.” His tone had hardened. “So do you.”

Her brain tried to reengage. “Syon—”

He fingered her clit, and she was jerked away from reality with a jolt.

“Just…shut up…and feel, baby.” His voice was strained, his pace increasing. “I want to make you feel…as insane as you make me feel,” he rasped against her ear.